Ibo's Garage - TTRS3GTR

[Ibonibo]

Will try dialing it in like that, taught it was normal taht it drips during testing as the flow is bigger in the beginning. I get it now...

Will test on different spots till it doesn't run anymore 👍

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Will try dialing it in like that, taught it was normal taht it drips during testing as the flow is bigger in the beginning. I get it now...

Will test on different spots till it doesn't run anymore 👍

No, dripping is not normal.

You do not want anything dripping at all. Should spray out a very nice fine mist pattern that has to be applied in multiple light coats. You can even hang multiple layers of "test" plastic and keep practicing and remove the previous layer.

You will just have to experiment quite a bit to get it dialed in to perfection. Luckily it was only on the plastic parts for now so its fairly quick and easy to repair. Just take your time and spray very light coats. As I said, the first coat should be so light its almost transparent. Then 2nd coat a little darker, 3rd coat a little darker. You just want to lightly apply the color over multiple layers. Even if it takes you 10 light coats its better than 2 or 3 heavy coats. The lighter it is, the better. Any runs or imperfections will need to be sanded, repaired, and repainted before clear coat is applied. The base coat needs to be 100% flawless, before you apply the clear. There is 0 tolerance with the base coat. No room for error at all.

 

[Ibonibo]

Everything is ready for tomorrow.

Took the gun apart to clean it. Wasn't dirty at all, waterbase doesn't stick

new sheets of plastic, no colour, removed the colour with 800 grid wet, repassed with 3M Ultrafine pads. Clean with Plastic cleaner ( Iguess I don't need that anymore due to 2K products on it, think it's mainly use in order that plasic doesn't warp due to solvant base silico0n remover?? Wild guess ) Everything

Due to temp, humidity issues (darn you weatherfrog)

@CAMAROBOY69 : Onthe pistol, didn't pay attention while disassembling:

The spring has a plastic on it on one side. That goes direction needle, only seems logical? Just making sure.... hadn't a lot of these in my hands yet -_- (<-Pokerface )

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Yes the needle goes forward.

 

[Ibonibo]

3-5 fine layers of base

2 coats CC

3 coats

Arrow was what was in it before, mixed too much, this is the rest

Done, approx. 10 coats, stopped counting after 5

here, oohhhh man. On the last coat the tube caught on the plastic, the plastic glued to the part
Ripped the plastic off, reapplied a few extra coats on the part.

We see the aftermath tomorrow

So awesome.

I do prefer bigger batches though, as the waiting in between is boring. On the whole car, one side is cured when I finished the other.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

YES! You finally got to spray some base AND clear!! Looking great and as I mentioned before there is no such thing as too much clear coat. So you could have sprayed 20 coats if you wanted to.

I wouldn't worry too much about the plastic that got stuck to the clear coat. You said that you peeled the plastic off and re-applied the clear coat so you should be fine. Clear coat is insanely user friendly and VERY forgiving. As long as you have a lot of coats of clear on the part, you don't have to worry about runs, orange peel, dirt, or anything. That will ALL sand out when you hit it with wet 2,000 grit and 2,500 grit sand paper. Then polish.

Like yourself, I also prefer bigger batches. That way you can just keep spraying in between wait time. That's also why I said I had an available dart board for when I painted cars. Gave me something to do for 15 minutes between coats. But I am sure you entertained yourself with a smart phone. Back when I was painting I didn't have a smart phone yet.

 

[Ibonibo]

Yeah it didn't look like it damaged the part... Dust is minimal in it, but need to check tomorrow.
One fly in the room. Felt like Breaking bad "we need to get rid of the containment" lol. I hope she didn't sat in the clear now after I was done, but worst case, it's one fly on the last coat.

Yeah smartphone was distraction enough plus got out of the room, took some fresh air.

More clear will get on it after a mid sand. Then I respray everything with a few CC.

I can't wait to attack the rest in blue now You were right, as soon as the clear shines, instant satisfaction for all the weeks of work.

and going this way, splitting up and starting with the small batch... I now feel confident enough to attack the big part.

 

[Ibonibo]

@CAMAROBOY69 : mid clear sand : 1000 -> 1500 grid -> CC -> 2000 -> 2500 -> Polish ?

A few passes with 1000 grid.

Camaro 1/4 gallon is enough product on the pieces to get all the cavities out? Or playing safe card, and waiting for the second pass to take them all out?
Will the second pass of CC fill them up?

Some pics are a tad blurry

Looks so good already, even with the peel

Cleaned the gun thoroughly

Is there a trick to get the clear better out. it took some time, and was a bit of work to get it all cleaned.

And how often should I clean the gun in the painting process?? I had the feeling that at the end, the mist wasn't "misty" enough?? (simply up'd the pressure a bit)

Tomorrow, preping the rest of the car, still some work to do, especially since I gonna resand everything with the 3M pads to ensure no scratch (small patch taught me that )

Friday I should be done with all the prep. Then saturday paint, errmm, colour time

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

@CAMAROBOY69 : mid clear sand : 1000 -> 1500 grid -> CC -> 2000 -> 2500 -> Polish ?

A few passes with 1000 grid.

Camaro 1/4 gallon is enough product on the pieces to get all the cavities out? Or playing safe card, and waiting for the second pass to take them all out?
Will the second pass of CC fill them up?

Some pics are a tad blurry

Looks so good already, even with the peel

Cleaned the gun thoroughly

Is there a trick to get the clear better out. it took some time, and was a bit of work to get it all cleaned.

Tomorrow, preping the rest of the car, still some work to do, especially since I gonna resand everything with the 3M pads to ensure no scratch (small patch taught me that )

Friday I should be done with all the prep. Than saturday paint, errmm, colour time

You are doing a terrific job with the clear! You sure nailed it with the "licking" picture. After clear has been sprayed it really does look like a delicious candy. It looks like a dark purple in the pictures. Grape flavored?

Sanding
"Mid clear sand : 1000 -> 1500 grid -> CC -> 2000 -> 2500 -> Polish" Correct!
1,000 is a fairly aggressive to start so be careful, don't sand very much, and go very light with the pressure. The 1,500 will go even smoother.

Cavities aka orange peel pockets
I would not worry about removing all the pockets right now. The next coats of clear will fill a lot of those pockets in.

Clean gun
To keep the gun clean or to prevent the clear from sticking, keep moving the gun around to keep the fluid in as much motion as possible. As the clear sits, it tries to dry to the gun like glue. Just try to keep it moving. When cleaning the gun at the end, that's just how it goes. Clear is just naturally very sticky and messy to clean.

Final clear coat
Don't forget that the last clear coat you apply is your final chance to add the ultimate protection to the car. So lay as many coats on as you can. Layer after layer until you run out of clear.

Buffing after 2,500 grit.
You do have the cutting buffing compound right? When it comes to buffing I would be extremely careful running a buffer on the clear. You don't want it near ANY of the edges of the clear at all. I would plan on buffing as much of the car as you can by hand for now. As the clear sets over time you can hit it later with a buffing wheel. But still, be ultra careful getting near any of the edges. You are already familiar with buffing so I know you are aware of how careful you need to be. Buff 1 panel at a time and apply tape around the edges of existing surfaces to prevent any accidental damage.

 

[Ibonibo]

Perfect. 👍

VEry good with the cavities. Fearing of grinding through. This way it's safe 👍

Thanks a lot buddy

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

No problem. I just edited my post previous post with some buffing tips too.

 

[eiriksmil]

Let the paint cure for as long as you can before installing parts and buffing. Maybe nefore sanding down too, maybe the camaro boy who prefers his 69s can chime in
Like a month if you can.. The curing is part of what separates good paint jobs with great, long lasting ones

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Let the paint cure for as long as you can before installing parts and buffing. Maybe nefore sanding down too, maybe the camaro boy who prefers his 69s can chime in
Like a month if you can.. The curing is part of what separates good paint jobs with great, long lasting ones

You might want to skim through the last several pages. Pretty sure I have given a fair amount of advice.

 

[Ibonibo]

eirik . It won't get assembled and or buffed directly... because time

Okay, after a 10hours shift... no pause.... it's done

THe car look awesome once again after 7 years of molested state

As for the bonnet to not touch the plastics inside.... I made a stopped on the lift

Cleaning

More cleaning

And the colour is on

Looks more purple than blue

And 4 clears later

There it is blue - purple , blurple, my favorite colour

Now I bizarrely only used 1.5 Liter of paint (ordered 6 )

The clears I upped the flow a bit...

Resulted in less orange peel. Without runs.... a bit of dialing and experience (6 hours) made this a lot easier

But more than the 4 coats (2 liters / 1/2 gallon) wasn't in it. 10 hours in, the Gun gets heavy, Ibo gets tired...

So awesome

Better pics tomorrow....

And yeah sadly talked about it, never had the time for a die cast S3 to be painted with it, neither did I managed to get the gopros up to make a timelapse.

 

[Ronald6]

Bravo! Can't wait to see it in sunlight. That colour is fantastic.

 

[Ibonibo]

Pistol cleaned

To the amazing stuff

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Congratulations!!!!! That blurple color really does look beautiful and will only look even better after you bring it out in the sunlight. Plus it will look even better once it is all wet sanded and buffed. Again, congrats!!

 

[Ibonibo]

Thanks man.

Now, how much should i sand of for the next layer of clear to stick? Is a pass with 1500 enough?

As i didnt lay a massige amout of cc on the car, i dont want to sand through.

How much is enough? How much is needed?

The pic is a quick single pass with 1500 grid. Enough? More? ....

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Thanks man.

Now, how much should i sand of for the next layer of clear to stick? Is a pass with 1500 enough?

As i didnt lay a massige amout of cc on the car, i dont want to sand through.

How much is enough? How much is needed?

The pic is a quick single pass with 1500 grid. Enough? More? ....

I would go at least another solid pass with the 1,500 again. Once you get another 4-5 coats of clear you will be able to really cut it down without worrying at all. Just make sure to use the rubber squeegee and keep an eye on it to make sure you don't cut through the clear into the base coat. Also make sure you at least scuff up the lower parts. You want all of it to be dull so the clear sticks better.

 

[Ibonibo]

Okay.

Yes the cutting into the base is the horror scenario I try to avoid. Thinking a second pass or even a thrid is no problem with 1500.

Just need to be really careful on the edges and stuff....

 

[Ibonibo]

So after 2 days of inspecting every inch and mm of the car (and sanding )

This are all of the problems:

Missing colour:

On the inner edge of the inner side of the hood (barely colour on it)

Now, it's on places I don't really care for... as it's in not so visible spots.
But is there a way of correction on these without going "full panel" ?

I did go over the whole "visible panels" over the whole vehicule with a LED torch. There is enough colour everywhere. While painting I taught I was good after 3 layers, but took the torch to make sure, It wasn't. So glad there is now not one fault in the base layer on the whole car

And this is the state of the sand process

Hood

C pillar

Roof

And this is how it looks in sunshine

It goes from blue in light, to purple in shade, to nearly black in some angles. Buying blindly colours is awesome

After all the shades I had in mind, I just bought what was in stock at a discount price. Awesome colour, somehow reminds me of the Nissan Midnight Purples, but at a fraction of the costs of those (complicated to apply too)

 

[motortrend]

This thing is coming out amazing. Take your time in these last few steps and get everything nicely polished (I'm sure you will do it right) and it will look better than many Pro jobs.

 

[Ibonibo]

Thanks 👍

Appling the clear like these even will take care of all the dust. As now it is sanded out for these layers, and on the last sand I will even go deeper, so all dust inclusion will be gone.

I never would have envisoned this outcome. It's simply legendary. And that is in very big chunks thanks to @CAMAROBOY69 .

a bit more questionning:

What happens when I would sand through and apply clear over it? Will it not stick? Does it not look good?

How should I scuff the cavities without erasing the "mountains"?

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Thanks 👍

Appling the clear like these even will take care of all the dust. As now it is sanded out for these layers, and on the last sand I will even go deeper, so all dust inclusion will be gone.

I never would have envisoned this outcome. It's simply legendary. And that is in very big chunks thanks to @CAMAROBOY69 .

a bit more questionning:

What happens when I would sand through and apply clear over it? Will it not stick? Does it not look good?

How should I scuff the cavities without erasing the "mountains"?



Now, it's on places I don't really care for... as it's in not so visible spots.
But is there a way of correction on these without going "full panel" ?

1,500 areas
Those look great. Much better than yesterday.

Sanding through clear into base
When you sand through the clear into the base there are a couple potential problems. Clear could peel off that area. Plus that area could look lighter than the rest of the car. Because if you think about it, the base is not sanded at all. So it remains dark. So if you do sand through the clear and hit the base, that part will be lighter.

Invisible spots where base and clear have been missed
You can base and clear these areas by masking off the finished areas. Only leave the area exposed that you want to paint. Covering everything else will prevent overspray from hitting those areas. Before you apply the last couple layers of clear coat you will un tape the area and let the clear "blend" into the already painted surfaces.

Cavities
Best way to scuff the cavities is to use a scotch pad. You wont be able to get all the cavities perfectly scuffed but something is better than nothing.

Compliments
Also, I greatly appreciate the compliments for all the advice I have given but the person that deserves all the credit is yourself. This is a huge overwhelming project most people don't understand and never will. You have taken on the challenge and have greatly succeeded. And this is only the beginning, as you sand and clear, then sand again with a buff to finish it off, you will have accomplished something many never will.

 

[Ibonibo]

^thanks 👍 it's awesome though the ease of mind I have if I run into a problem. That's really cool.

Car is 90% done, leaves the rear non visible, and innerside of the bonnet. The rest is there after a control pass.

Bumpers are 70% done

Sill covers and small stuff not started yet

Apart from one mirror cap, because it had a drop, run in it. On the under side. I sanded and sanded, started to look good, taught about stopping there and taking the rest out after the new clear. Should have gone that way.

I cut through the clear deep into the base.

For a respray, do I need to sand everything of till the filler layer (whole clear & base) ? Or just sand the clear on?

Other than that, I advance... can't wait till all is done. Then last spray

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I cut through the clear deep into the base.

For a respray, do I need to sand everything of till the filler layer (whole clear & base) ? Or just sand the clear on?

Just sand off the clear. The base can stay.

 

[Katiegan]

You're doing a damn good job here! We just got an S3 like yours back from the body shop at work and it's absolutely awful. The paint is full of blemishes and chips, and you can see where they've applied too much paint and it's run and dried. The bottom of the front bumper is horrible, they didn't take it off to paint it (even though we prepped it for them and all they had to do was take out two bolts) and all the paint has run really badly underneath it.

See, you're even doing a far better job than some professionals! Keep at it!

 

[Ibonibo]

Thanks a lot Katie :up:

Sadly it seems to be a recurrent trend in the automotive sector in delivering bad work. Probably because clients aren't that savy in cars.

a bit of updates and pics.

still on the sanding. Taught I could spray clear this weekend, but I am taking the extra mile to make sure everything is nicely scuffed in order not to have clear peeling off. It would ruin so much work. So an extra portion of elbowgrease. Keeping in mind it's the last step before wetting my pants keeps the mood up...

These little "Qtips" are awesome to get insects out of the clear if it happens, it has little hooks so the insect stick to it without smearing the clear off

On the sanding, nearly everything has be sanded on with 1500 (1 Bcover + rear spoiler)

Started padding the surfaces with the M3 pads

If the clear doesn't stick I eat a broom

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Ohhhhh you even sanded the clear UNDER the hood. Its very rare I see anyone sand under the hood. Now that is seriously beyond "going the extra mile". 👍

 

[eiriksmil]

You're ****ing boss